High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah got emotional when reading out his judgment for the case involving a teenager who was charged with the murder of 23 people in a fire at Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah almost three years ago.
“I pray that their souls will be blessed by Allah SWT and placed in heaven, so do their parents,” said Azman who came close to tears.
On hearing this from the learned judge the atmosphere in the courtroom turned sombre.
Earlier, lawyer Mohd Haijan Omar, representing the teenager who is now 19 said his client regretted the inconvenience caused and asked for forgiveness.
“My client humbly apologises to the people involved for the difficulties they went through throughout the trial period that took place over the past three years,” he said in his mitigation.
Mohd Haijan said his client still maintained his innocence and had kept denying that he had committed the offence.
However, Azman said if the lawyer said that his client is innocent, the argument should be presented in the Court of Appeal.
Mohd Haijan said his client on his own initiative has taken classes in prison and will be sitting for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
He said the juvenile offender is the second of five siblings, adding that his father died while he was in remand.
“His mother runs an online business selling clothes and only earns about RM2,000 a month,” he added.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutors Julia Ibrahim and N Joy Jothi.
According to an amended charge, the teenager, together with another unidentified individual, was charged with murdering and causing the death of the 23 people staying at the tahfiz centre at Jalan Keramat Hujung, Kampung Datuk Keramat, Wangsa Maju here, between 4.15 am and 6.45 am on Sept 14, 2017.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court today ordered the teenager to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after finding him guilty of the offence.
Judge Azman meted out the sentence on the teenager after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts against the 23 murder charges.
The boy was 16 when the offence was committed.
After hearing the testimony of all parties, the court found that the first offender (the teenager) intentionally committed mischief to cause death,” said the judge.
He said since the teenager was still a juvenile when the offence was committed, he had applied Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001 to sentence him.
It is up to the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to determine the terms and condition of the teenager’s detention from time to time, he added.
The court, however, acquitted and discharged another person, also of the same age, who was charged with him without calling for his defence.
The two of them were initially jointly charged with the murder offence, but the charge was later amended following the decision at the end of the prosecution’s case.
The teenager was charged with 23 counts of murder, framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
However, Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001 states that a death sentence shall not be pronounced or recorded against a person convicted of an offence if the child is under the age of 18, and in lieu of the death sentence, as provided under Section 97 (2) of the same law, the court shall order the person to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Section 94 of the same law also empowers the court to order the parents or guardian of the child offender to pay fine or compensation.
The boy, dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and black pants, cried when Azman delivered the verdict.
He was seen wiping away tears as the judge went into the details of his sentencing.